Luke Fowler Cineforum: "The Sierra Pambley Schools".

Past event

As part of the educational programming around the exhibition Luke Fowler: Common Sense, We propose three sessions of film forums, related to the theme of each of the three documentaries that form part of the exhibition.

The first of these revolves around the documentary The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott (2012), which focuses on the Marxist historian E.P. Thompson and, in particular, the diaries of his classes at the W.E.A. (Workers' Education Association) in the 1950s. In his classes, Thompson sought to prioritise discussion over lecture, learning from the knowledge and experience of his students and incorporating their work into his own research.

It is guided by Magdalena Corral Baró, Manager at the Sierra Pambley Foundation in León.

«The Sierra Pambley schools. An educational project for the economic, social and human progress of the people of the province of León».»
The debate and subsequent talk will focus on the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (ILE), the historical context in which it was born, the 19th century, the alternative it proposed in favour of independent thought and academic freedom, the attempts to carry out an authentic pedagogical renovation, the intellectuals and politicians who made it possible, and the link between the Sierra Pambley Foundation, born in León, and the ILE in Madrid. We will also talk about the pedagogical work of the Foundation, which began in 1886, through the schools it set up in the rural areas of León -Villa- blino, Hospital de Órbigo, Villameca- and Zamora, in Moreruela de Tábara, and in León city. The Sierra Pambley schools were set up in the areas where the Fdez-Blanco and Sierra Pambley families owned properties in order to offer the most needy children and young people free education, both in primary education and vocational training. It was an innovative pedagogical project, in terms of the teaching given, the methods and resources used, and the training and values of the teachers, which meant a profound transformation for the areas where it was implemented.